


Two medics, two deaths and one new start

by Paddy_2020



Series: Dr Buckley will see you now [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 118 underestimate Buck, Angry Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Angst, Army Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Bobby does not come out of this well, Dr Evan Buckley, Dr Henrietta Wilson, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, Post Lawsuit, Trauma Surgeon Buck, hurt Buck, smart buck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28037856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paddy_2020/pseuds/Paddy_2020
Summary: I love the idea of the 118 totally underestimating Buck’s intelligence and treating him like he’s stupid and worthless. Therefore I’ve decided that he deserves a fic in which he can leave them behind and start a new life where he is actually valued.
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Athena Grant, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Dr Buckley will see you now [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053797
Comments: 80
Kudos: 293





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and a comment if you like it. I love to read your opinions of my work!

18th June 2016 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania:  
*Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*  
“Flatlining again, Dr Buckley, we’re going to need to start CPR”  
“No, you can’t, your going to have to let me finish this stitch or they’ll start haemorrhaging again”  
“Sir, we need to start CPR NOW!”  
“TWO SECONDS! There done, now start CPR”

“Coding, we need the defibrillator now!”  
“Charging, clear!” *thump*  
“Charging, clear!” *thump*  
“Charging, clear!” *thump*  
“Still no pulse”

Evan Buckley is standing in a daze, the operation was going so well. Sure the patient had arrested a couple of times, but that wasn’t anything new for him. He knew that went with the territory of trauma surgery and just worked through it, he also knew that there was no way the patient would have survived if he hadn’t sewn the artery back together. He is snapped out of his daze by the second call of ‘no pulse’.

Evan weighs up the patient’s chance of survival and deciding his team are wasting their time, decides to call time on their CPR attempts “right, thank you everyone. Time of death is 3:21 on the 18th June 2016”. He then walks out of theatre to call the family of the now deceased patient, holding back tears during the whole call. He knows the death was not his fault. That particular phase of the procedure had to be done before CPR could start and he had finished it as quickly as he could, but he still felt a sense of regret at not finishing faster and not managing to save Trevor Martins’ life. It was then that the tears hit him.

30th October 2017 Afghanistan:  
The gunfire was rattling in the Background and Eddie Diaz was having to run through it as always. He was an army medic and it was his job to get to the injured first and treat them until the doctors back at base could save them. He took his work very seriously, knowing that he was the sole reason many soldiers felt safe leaving the compound. He had been part of a supplies convoy, going between the British army base and the American camp and, whilst normally he got out of this duty, leaving it to the royal army medical Corps and the royal logistics corps, he had no such luck today, with the Americans having to pick up their own supplies. Their convoy had run into an ambush, one hundred Taliban insurgents against 10 soldiers, 5 drivers and 2 medics, it was going to be a mess. Fortunately close air support had been called in, but until it arrived, the convoy was on its own. That was when the shooting started. Bullets tearing through anyone in the open, RPGs cutting through armoured steel as if it were paper. Eddie Diaz felt that if you looked up hell in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of this. He nonetheless sprang into action alongside his other medic, Jamie Dean. Together they ran through the bullets picking up survivors and throwing them into trucks before taking cover as they themselves became targets. 

Eddie felt a white hot heat rip into his arm, noticing it going limp next to him before seeing his best friend, who he often joked was his ‘deployment husband’ falling to the ground, hit. Eddie Diaz did everything he could to move his friend out of danger, but with only one functioning hand it was an impossible task and he had to run for cover without him as the fighter jets arrived. 

Once the insurgents were killed, Eddie ran back to where his friend was, only to find a corpse. He cried and he cried and he didn’t stop until he was back at camp, lying in a hospital bed and calling Shannon to tell her that he had been wounded and would be returning to Texas but that he was OK. He finished the call saying “this time I’ll be returning for good” and it was the truth, when he saw Jamie’s dead body his mind immediately imagined Robbie, his son’s face when he learned that his father was dead. Eddie did not want to subject Christopher to that and for that reason as soon as he could get out of bed he requested the termination of his service with the US army. He left with an honourable discharge and a silver star, but the only thing that mattered to him was that he left with his life. 

19th June 2016  
Evan Buckley has another full day of surgeries ahead of him. This time at least it was an elective list - he asked to be taken off the emergency roster for a few days after the death in order to compose himself, and the hospital had agreed, provided he continued with his orthopaedic list.  
“Right everyone, we have an 18 year old adolescent male, who needs an ACL reconstruction on the left knee. Estimated surgery length two and a half hours, I first need to remove a graft of hamstring, before going in and removing what’s left of the ligament and replacing it with the graft. The graft will be held in pace by one titanium screw and one titanium clip, does everyone understand?”  
“Yes Dr Buckley”  
“Good, let’s get going then”  
Everything was going well, until knife hit skin and then Evan just froze. He was terrified, not the normal anxious hoping that nothing goes wrong, but full blown terrified of failing another patient, he struggled through the procedure, but it was at that point that he realised.

“I can’t do this anymore!”  
“I’m sorry but what, Evan you are the best surgeon in the department sure you lost a patient but as callous as this is going to sound, it happens! In our line of work you don’t save everyone, even you, despite having the Midas touch, cannot save everyone and you need to reconcile yourself with that!”  
“I can’t. I can’t go on with this job! I was in theatre and I just froze up. I’ve lost my edge, I can’t take a risk anymore and I most certainly can’t deal with the consequences of losing patients anymore!”  
“Evan, I’ll give you leave but I’m not letting you resign, you’re better than that and I know you can get through this”  
“I QUIT!”  
“NO, YOU DO NOT GET TO FAIL YOUR PATIENTS IN THAT WAY!”  
“THE ONLY WAY I FAIL MY PATIENTS IS IF I STAY AND THEY END UP IN THE MORGUE LIKE TREVOR MARTINS!”  
“Fine, but when you realise this is a mistake, please come back to us”

August 2017  
Buck walks into his new station, the 118 “Hi, I’m looking for a Captain Nash?”...

December 2018  
Eddie Diaz is finally starting his first day with the 118. “I’m looking forward to working here Captain Nash”,   
“well I think it’s safe to say that we’re all looking forward to working with you probationary firefighter Diaz, I have only heard good things from your instructors and we’re honoured that you wanted to work here”...

TBC


	2. The arrival of Eddie Diaz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie arrives at the station, upsetting the already fragile power balance and making Buck feel redundant in a way he has never had to deal with before. Bear in mind that Buck’s dating history has been altered quite considerably in this fic and that he never dated Ali or Abby in here. This chapter covers events right up to when the lawsuit was set in motion and is the last of the chapters that stick to the original show.

Evan Buckley had finally found his place at the 118, he was the act first think later daredevil that he had always wanted to be, there was no need for a firefighter to think hours into the future about whether the decision they were making was a good one, they just needed to make a choice in the moment and run with it, tackling everything as it came along. Sure he missed his past when he saw Hen and Chim carrying out emergency procedures, but he knew he wasn’t ready to go back to his operating theatre. There was only one person in the LAFD who knew he had been a doctor and that was the Brigade Chief, who had agreed to keep it a secret from his crew. 

Then Eddie Diaz arrived and he stole Buck’s spotlight, now there were two young men at the station, willing to abseil off things, climb up buildings and generally save lives with no thought for their own safety. It was exhausting trying to compete and he really hated Eddie Diaz because of it. Then Eddie questioned him, Evan Buckley MD, on a medical call, the army medic turned firefighter EMT questioned the youngest ever attending trauma surgeon at Penn University hospital - of course he didn’t know that but Buck was furious and became even more annoyed when Bobby sided with the new probie over him. Things then only got worse until the grenade in the ambulance, when responding to it, both Eddie and Buck had remained cool under pressure and their shared trauma led to a close friendship, that blossomed over the following months. There was one thing that was weird that day though, when Eddie and Buck had wheeled the patient into the ER, Eddie could have sworn that he heard buck being addressed as Dr Buckley by a very startled intern, although he later reasoned that it was just a case of mistaken identity and went on with his day. 

Over the year that followed, Eddie and Buck became very close friends and eventually became boyfriends. Buck remembers that day fondly, it was Christmas and they had taken Christopher out to the cinema to watch that year’s hit movie, before returning to Eddie’s apartment for dinner. Chris had been in bed for about an hour before somehow Buck and Eddie’s lips fell together and they had spent that night cuddling on the sofa. A couple of weeks later they had made their relationship official, telling Bobby and the crew, Buck has to say that it stung when Bobby made a comment about Eddie becoming the father of two children now, rather than just one, but he didn’t say anything, he had learnt at this point that his opinion had no effect on his crew whatsoever. 

Buck had been forced to put up with all sorts of taunts from his team ever since his arrival. Hen thought he was too pushy trying to help on medical calls (if only she knew of the great resource she had at her disposal but never chose to employ), Chimney just thought he was stupid and annoying, making that opinion very clear on multiple occasions and Bobby treated him like he was a child, incapable of making even the most simple decisions for himself. For example, Buck had applied to become a driver engineer when Perkins retired, however, rather than allowing Buck - already the stand in for when the driver was ill, to take the next step in his career, Bobby chose to train up another firefighter from the 110, citing better experience and a greater capacity for quick decision making in his choice. It didn’t help that Chim was sniggering in the background as Bobby made the declaration. In all, Buck did not feel like a full member of the 118, they did not value him and they did not accept that he might actually be smart, to prove a point he decided one day to take an online MENSA approved IQ test at the station to prove to them that he wasn’t an idiot, but when he got a score of 144 Hen just said he had cheated. The constant belittling stung, but Buck put up with it, knowing that this was his purgatory until he felt he could return to surgery, and that day would come sooner than any of them could imagine.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”  
Buck’s day had been good, he had woken up next to his favourite person in the world, Eddie Diaz, sure he hadn’t moved in yet, but it felt like he almost had - coming over for ‘sleepovers’ three times a week at least. Before hitting the gym at work and bathing in that nice post workout glow for the remainder of the shift, his shift had even been easy, he had quite literally been called to rescue a cat from a tree. Then the explosion had happened and now he was lying with 12 tons of ladder truck resting on his leg, even if he hadn’t been a trauma surgeon, Buck would have known that was bad, heck a five year old would have known that was bad. And it was, the surgeon (who miraculously didn’t recognise him) pulled no punches saying that it was entirely possible that Buck would never walk again, never mind work again. He was distraught and the 118 rallied around their ‘golden retriever’ telling him he was going to be OK, Hen even walked him through the dumbed down version of an operation he had carried out hundreds of times, he wanted to tell her there and then, but chose to bite his tongue, she was the paramedic and he didn’t want to unsettle her by forcing her to work alongside a trauma surgeon who definitely did watch her every move. 

Then a few months later a miracle happened, Evan Buckley had passed his recertification test and was welcomed back into the LAFD a hero, until the blood clots which set him back once more and left the once great Dr Buckley being expected to be happy at cleaning the firehouse for the remainder of his career. When Bobby told him, he had said no, he wasn’t coming back until he was fully ready for heavy duty and the team respected that wish, until they brought in Lena Bosko who became more a part of the team than he ever was. They accepted her and nurtured her career until Buck was left wondering if he would ever have a job to go Back to. Eddie also let his boyfriend down, telling him to stop feeling sorry for himself and keeping him around as a childminder whenever his services were needed. He also blamed Buck for Christopher’s disappearance in the tsunami, refusing to recognise how Buck had saved him during the first wave and that Buck had jumped from safety into the water after the boy, as soon as he had gone under. Eddie broke their relationship, they were never the same afterwords and never could be again. Bobby broke his career, proving just how disposable he was to the 118 by permanently appointing Bosko in his place. Hen and Chim sabotaged their friendship with him when they never once contacted him during his recovery to see how he was. The whole crew destroyed any hope of Evan coming back when he walked into the station to hear them all delightedly gossiping about how obviously depressed he was. No they didn’t think to help him, they didn’t think to welcome him, all they wanted to do was talk about him as if he was an embarrassment to both them and himself. 

With that Buck had had enough, he had seen the Los Angeles County and USC medical centre wanted a new attending trauma surgeon and decided to apply for the role which he was accepted into with open arms, he was due to start the next week and decided to supersede Bobby, handing his resignation straight to the brigade chief, saying “I would have given this to captain Nash, but I’m not sure they even remember I exist at the 118”.

Buck thrived at the new hospital, and his first day of work there felt like a rebirth, meanwhile Bobby was furious at Evan Buckley for leaving without telling him and went to his apartment to demand and explanation. 

He stormed in that evening, just as Buck was putting out his dinner and started telling him how stupid he was, to which Buck just replied, “do that in a mirror and see if you’d want to work for yourself afterwords”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not overly pleased with this chapter, but it condenses a lot of heartbreak into a small amount of writing, so it’ll do as a springboard into the main story.


	3. “We’ve got a seven car pileup, multiple traumatic injuries. I’m gonna need multiple RA units.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena finally learns where Buck has gone, and is both proud of her boy for his success and furious with her husband when she discovers why he left. Meanwhile, Eddie gets heavily involved in street fighting with Lena Bosko and despite his early successes, ends up having to work through multiple painful injuries, how will Buck and the 118 react when he is wheeled into the ER unconscious?

**Nine Months later at Buck’s new apartment:**

Buck woke up feeling energised for his morning, he was one of those rarest of doctors who actually enjoyed having to work in the ER. Normally manning the ER drove physicians to breakdowns and burnouts, however, for Evan Buckley it is a cathartic experience - it combines the thrill of being a doctor and having the ability to save the life of someone you hope you will never see again as well as the fast paced adrenaline rush that comes with being a firefighter. For a man like Evan Buckley, ER duty is heaven, the only thing he ever fears is being called to meet RA unit 118 at the door and having to confront his past whilst working in his future, however, it hasn’t happened yet and it’s very unlikely to ever happen - this is a fact he takes great comfort from. He packs his rucksack with several files that he needs to return to work, as well as detailed briefs that will need to be distributed for his operating days at the end of the week and finally piles in a ton of food to keep him fuelled throughout the day before placing it at the door next to the bag containing his white coat. The young man then puts on his suit jacket and does his tie - the one thing he has hated about leaving the 118 is the return of the dreaded tie, however, Maddie helped him pick this one last month and he has to agree with her that it really works with his eyes. 

Talking of Maddie, she hadn’t always been on his side in his battle against the 118 - agreeing with Bobby that it was maybe too early for him to return to work. A few unsavoury comments from Chim, however, and her opinion was reformed, she dumped him on the spot when he suggested her brother was too stupid to take his job seriously and nearly killed Bobby when he made a joke about Buck being a ‘misery guts’ over the bombing. Ever since severing her ties with the 118, Maddie had been firmly in Buck’s corner - making as much clear when Athena probed for information during her frequent visits to the dispatch centre. So yes, Buck had support like he never had before and he is trusted and respected by all of his colleagues, both those more senior and more junior than himself.   
  


Buck picks up all of his bags, before sending a text to Maddie with his schedule for the day and walking out to his car. He jumps into his relatively new Aston Martin db9, which he had bought pretty soon after leaving the 118 as he didn’t want them recognising his car in the staff car park at the hospital if they ever saw it bringing a patient in. How did he afford the car, you ask, well the LAFD had been forced to compensate him generously for the ladder truck incident and as a surgeon he was earning several times what he did as a firefighter and a young Evan Buckley had always wanted an Aston Martin (definitely not due to his James Bond obsession in any way) so it was a no brainer. As he drove in he listened to the news playing on his radio, talking about dangerous driving conditions due to the heavy rain the night before, “great” he muttered sarcastically as although he loved working in the ER if he could have one wish in the whole world, it would be that his department was always empty as no one was involved in the horrible accidents he had to treat them after. Once the news report was over, he turned the radio off and continued his drive to the hospital in silence.   
  


Buck arrived at the front desk ten minutes early, quickly singing in before walking to his office, smiling as he read the brushed aluminium plaque on the door which read ‘Dr E. Buckley M.D - clinical lead, Orthopaedic surgery and Trauma dept.’ He felt a sense of pride every time he walked into his office, Dr E. Buckley was Evan 3.0, the man who believed in himself and surrounded himself with people who he could learn from but who also respected him, the man who decided he had taken enough shit from the 118 and that it was time to act. His medical secretary walked into his office to give him his schedule for the day and a coffee, it was little gestures like this that he appreciated, it wasn’t Jessica’s job to bring him coffee, it was her job to grapple with the massive bureaucracy that is the health and care system so he could do his job, but because they were friends and because he frequently did the same for her, she made him a coffee when she was getting one for herself, rather than just taking his friendship for granted like Eddie, Bobby, Hen and Chimney had. He sat back into his chair with a sigh, sipping his coffee and going over his schedule.

** Athena Grant POV **

“Dispatch, this is 2707, I’ve got a seven car pileup on my hands here with multiple traumatic injuries, I’m gonna need multiple RA units and the LAFD as well as additional crowd control - send any medical backup you have please”

”Ok 2707 I have 9 RA units inbound and engines 116, 117 and 118 have been called up”

Within minutes, the sirens were blaring out, three fire trucks and nine ambulances pulling in next to an army of squad cars. Athena looked out for Bobby who jumped from his truck swiftly, before running over to Athena to find out where to focus his efforts and Athena pointed out three cars where the worst injured victims were trapped.   
  
Bobby immediately called out “Buckley, Diaz get the jaws and... Sorry Bosko, Diaz, get the jaws and go to that car there, get the driver and all passengers out NOW!”

”Im insulted Cap, I’ve got plenty of blood flowing up here” she pointed to her head, “rather than just to down here” she said pointing to between her legs.

Eddie ran over to join her “That’s true enough, I know who’s more likely to save my ass of it comes to it” they both started laughing at that, before wedging the doors of the car open.

Athena saw the well oiled machine that is the 118 in action, with Chim and Hen running over from their ambulance just as the first car door was cracked open. Therefore she was surprised to see Hen recoil as she looked into the car, re-emerging with a hand covered in blood, Chim looked rattled too and she saw him calling over more experienced medics, before the duo went off to treat another patient. The new medics were talking animatedly into their radios, calling for a trauma surgeon from the local hospital to be dispatched as an emergency field amputation and blood transfusion was required to keep the patient alive. The 118 left a few minutes later, Chim and Hen taking the ambulance up to the hospital and Lena, Bobby and Eddie returning to the station, then, about thirty minutes after the paramedics had called for a surgeon, a police car was blue lighting it to the scene followed by a sleek Aston Martin and a blood service SUV. The convoy pulled up, the doors of all the cars being flung open and then time stood still, _he,_ got out of the driver’s side of the Aston, Evan Buckley was running towards the car wearing a white coat which was flapping in the wind behind him and Athena couldn’t stop herself.

”Stop him, he’s not a doctor DO NOT let him anywhere near that patient!”

Athena walked up to Buck and grabbed the blonde’s arms, before roughly pulling them behind his back and cuffing them, saying “Evan Buckley, I am arresting you for impersonating a doctor at the endangerment of human life, you do not hav...”

”Athena let me out of these, I’m the head of trauma surgery at the LA county hospital and if you don’t stop the only person endangering human life here is you, so I will be filing a complaint with your superior officers for wrongful arrest and lack of due diligence”

”Buck, I’m disappointed, do you want lying to a police officer added to your list of misdemeanours. You’re a sick and twisted man if you think you can act like this”

”Athena, if you are going to abuse you shield to exact revenge on the behalf of your husband, at least let me phone and order another surgeon so you don’t have a human life on your conscience at the end of this”

”I’m not that stupid, how did you get into whatever this” she waved her arms around “is”

Buck annoyed at this point, sarcastically replied, “Well first I went to Harvard and did my medical degree, before...”

”Jenkins, take him away and see if a night in the cells will make him a little more lucid”

As she handed Buck over to the other officer, Athena saw the blood service driver walking over to her, “Sergeant, I just want you to know that I’ve worked with Dr Buckley before and he is genuinely a trauma surgeon, you should check his ID”.

”Oh, yeah, well I knew _Dr_ Buckley and he was most certainly not a medic then and in the nine months that have passed, I doubt he’s become that well qualified”.

”Right, I’m calling the hospital”

** Five minutes later **

Athena’s phone started ringing, but she ignored it, still angry at Buck for what he did and for having the audacity to lie to her. When the phone rang out, she was surprised to hear the call start again about a second later, intrigued she answered and, hearing the voice of her captain on the other end, immediately asked what the call was about.

”Athena, did you take a man into custody about 10 minutes ago? His name was Evan Buckley”

”Yes, why?”

”Well the LA County and USC hospital legal team have just turned up at my door demanding his release and your head, so would you care to tell me what’s going on?”

”Mr Buckley was claiming to be a trauma surgeon, however, he used to work with my husband as a firefighter until he resigned nine months ago, so I knew he wasn’t a doctor. So I arrested him for impersonating a doctor and endangering human life”

”Dr Buckley is the head of the Orthopaedic and Trauma unit in the County hospital and the legal team explained that he did leave surgery to become a firefighter after he suffered some sort of breakdown as a result of losing a patient. They also want to bring a charge for wrongful and biased arrest given Dr Buckley’s past with your husband as well as abuse of police power and lack of due diligence. They have also warned me that they will consider adding manslaughter to that list if the patient dies as a result of late medical care”

”Oh God, I’m sorry Cap, I genuinely didn’t think he was a doctor. Bobby always said he was well meaning but not very bright and I believed him, oh God”

”Athena, release him now and we’ll talk about next steps later, after all, Dr Buckley is well within his rights to press charges too”

”Of course Cap, please tell the legal team I’m very sorry”

”I will, now go!”

Athena ran over to the SUV where Buck was being held and said “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do with both myself and the 118 but higher powers have prevailed and you’re free, go and treat your patient”

”I don’t owe you or the 118 anything, but you potentially owe a family a loved one, so I hope you’re happy” Buck spat as he ran to the patient.   
  


Athena stood back watching the man who she had passed off as annoying and stupid fighting with every fibre of his being to save the patient he had been called to, she saw as he calmly asked the paramedics for a bone saw, anaesthetic and a scalpel and she watched as they frantically ran to get the supplies he needed. Fortunately the blood transfusion had been allowed through, as at least Buck still had a patient to work with, but Athena still couldn’t shake the sense of dread she felt as her boy suddenly stopped and stepped out of the car, slowly shaking his head.   
  


Buck made his way over to Athena, glaring and said “officer, I was wondering if you would be so kind as to call the coroner’s office for me, the patient was unfortunately deceased at the scene and there was nothing I could do to help upon arrival. I’ll get the paperwork over to the LAPD, LAFD and Coroner by this afternoon, here’s my number if you need a statement. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to call the hospital. Once Buck left, Athena felt the tears welling up in her eyes and suddenly started bawling. A man had died and it had been her fault - she had not trusted Buck and look at the consequences. She was still crying as he got into his car and backed up, leaving the scene after calling his superiors. As soon as he was out of sight, Athena called Bobby:

”Bobby! I’ve been an idiot”

”Baby I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is, come on, tell me what happened”

”You know the pileup, well someone died in it and it was my fault”

”Athena you did everything...”

”No, you don’t understand! Ask Hen about the man who needed an amputation and blood transfusion!”

”Athena, it’s Hen, I’m with Bobby now, we’re in the ER with Eddie, he had a bad bruise to his abdomen so we brought him in to get it checked out. And there was nothing you could’ve done for the man until the surgeon was done, so provided you let them work then it is not your fault. It’s not as if you arrested the surgeon or something!” Hen joked. 

Athena then started crying and between sobs said “But I did arrest the surgeon! I did!”

”You what! Why?”

”Bobby, when the surgeon pulled up I was just so surprised, it was Buck and I didn’t believe he was a doctor so I arrested him”

”Yeah, but Buck isn’t a doctor”

”HE IS! The hospital legal team turned up at the station and now to cut a long story short, I’ve got a list of charges the length of my arm placed against me”

”WHAT! What sort of charges?”

”Wrongful and biased arrest, lack of due diligence, abuse of authority and... and... and MANSLAUGHTER!”

”And your telling me that the little shit I took into my house and treated like my son has pressed these charges, cause if he has I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him for what he’s done to your career!”

”So far I still have a career and he hasn’t personally pressed charges, it’s so far just the hospital flexing its muscles. What ER are you in?”

”The Methodist hospital’s”

”Good, Buck works at county so he shouldn’t come into contact with you”

”I’m going to his apartment after work!”

”NO YOU ARE NOT! One of us could be out of a job, we don’t need two!”

At that moment, the doctor who had checked on Eddie walked back out, saying he was fine, but should be more careful in future and the 118 left, filling Eddie in on his ex-boyfriend’s antics as they drove.

** Later that Night, Bobby and Athena’s house: **

“You’re not going to believe this! He’s moved, he no longer lives there. I went by to have it out with him and it’s now a young family. I’m lucky I didn’t start shouting before they opened the door”

”I’m hardly surprised, he seems to have cut all ties with the 118, he doesn’t even drive the Jeep anymore”

”what’s it now so I can make sure to avoid helping it in any future accidents”

”Don’t say that Bobby, it’s your job to help him if he gets in an accident just as much as it’s his job to operate on you if you get hurt at work”

”Wouldn’t let any of the team be operated on by him, he’d probably kill them, anyway, what does he drive”

”I think it’s an Aston Martin DB9 although it could be a DB 11, I’m not sure”

”See what I mean about him being an idiot, probably can’t even afford to run it”

“Bobby, would you mind if we didn’t talk any more about it, I have to see if I still have a job tomorrow morning and I want to be able to live in denial for a few more hours”

”OK, but I will have it out with him at some point”

”Please don’t Bobby”

”NO, you do not hurt my family like that and get away with it”

** Lena Bosko’s flat: **

“Right Eddie, are you ready to go and beat someone up, cause I sure am.” 

Yeah, after what Buck’s done to Athena I think I need to distress a bit.”

The two firefighters get into Bosko’s 4x4 and head to the parking lot and the fight club. Eddie’s looking forward to it he’s first up that night and can’t wait to show off like he always does, only this time he isn’t particularly lucky.

He’s in the ring, and winning. YES!! he’s winnin... ouch. Where did that come from?! Eddie has gone from winning his fight in his usual flamboyant way to lying on the ground being pulverised. His last thought is pain, before everything goes black.   
  


** Hen Wilson POV: **

“Attention Station 118, Attention Station Medical emergency on mimosa avenue. Abandoned car park - turned illegal fight club. Be warned, patient is unconscious and bleeding heavily”

“Go, go, go, go!”

The ambulance pulls out of the station, carrying Hen and Chim to the scene where their coworker is bleeding out onto the hard tarmac beneath him. When they eventually get there, they first see Lena trying to keep her partner and friend alive and all Chim can say to Hen is:

“regardless of whether you liked him or not, Buck would never have got Eddie involved in all this”

”Yeah, you’re right” Hen said wistfully.

The paramedics are quick to action, scooping Eddie’s limp frame up off the ground and putting him onto the stretcher in the ambulance. They radio ahead to have a surgical response at the hospital, never imagining the surgeon will be their ex-coworker.

Hen and Chim are wheeling Eddie through the ER doors when a group of about ten doctors run towards them, the lead one unmistakably Buck.   
“What do we have”, he shouts as he runs towards them and Chim immediately lists off all of the life threatening injuries they found, including a ruptured spleen. Buck then nudges one of the residents running alongside him who makes their way towards the theatres, clearly wanting to notify the staff. For all of his authority, Buck comes to an immediate stop when he sees the limp form on the stretcher, whispering:

”Eddie?” Before turning to Hen and Chim, saying “You two let him do this, and you said I was the immature and stupid one. You’re disgraces every one of you!” Buck then rushes after the stretcher as it is wheeled towards the theatre.

TBC


	4. We really underestimated him, didn’t we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena faces her fate at work, Eddie gives Buck a scare. Bobby has it out with Buck, causing an even greater rift between the two men and Hen and Chim reflect on how horrible they have been.

“Bobby, you need to come down to the county hospital ER now”

”Why, someone finally beaten the shit out of Evan Fuckley?”

“Well I hope not, given that he’s currently operating on Eddie”

”You let that bastard near one of our own! After everything he’s done!”

”He’s the head of trauma surgery at the hospital Bobby, just admit when you’re wrong! Anyway you need to speak to Bosko, turns out Buck wasn’t the stupid and immature member of the 118, she is”.

”What happened?

“Eddie had the living daylights beaten out of him at an illegal fight club she brought him to. He has at the very least three broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, potentially punctured lung and the possibility of a spinal cord injury. He’s in a really bad way”.

”Maybe Buck will finally understand the damage he’s done to the 118 then”.

”Bobby, one of our own is currently clinging to life on an operating table and all you can think of is how glad you are that it’ll upset Buck to see the man he loved in that way. Stop being such a cunt, this has gone on long enough!”

”He didn’t even value us enough to hand me his resignation”.

”You didn’t even value him enough to trust he’d spelled his name right on it! Bobby, you need to get yourself down here now. I don’t want to worry you, but it would appear Buck has just called for a crash team and the theatre alarm is going off and I don’t need to tell you what that means”

”If Eddie dies, I’m suing Buck personally for medical negligence!”

”If Eddie dies, we’ve only ourselves to blame”

”Right, I’m outside. See you in five minutes”

** Inside the operating theatre: **

“You know I used to work with him?”

”What?”

”He was my partner in the LAFD, boyfriend at one point - although that didn’t last long” Buck replied wistfully.

”Seriously Evan, you never said?”

”Yeah, used to be a genuinely nice guy - definitely not the sort to be involved in street fighting. I actually feel sorry for him. Still the cap’ll let him back. Always did for anyone other than me. We ready to go?”

”Yes Dr Buckley”

”Good, let’s do this. Bear in mind, we don’t really know what’s in there so let me know if anyone sees anything. Knife to skin 10:04 pm”

As soon as Buck made the small incision at the spleen, the blood started pouring uncontrollably out of Eddie’s body and despite his efforts, it was impossible to fully stem.

”Get me blood now!”

Then Eddie’s pulse began to drop until it was worryingly weak with a terrifyingly low blood pressure

”GET ME A CRASH TEAM NOW”

”Theatre alarm pressed 10:10pm”

”CRASH TEAM!”

Buck stepped back, allowing the emergency resuscitation and stabilisation team to do their roles. The fifteen strong group of doctors and nurses inserting IV drips into every possible vein. They even briefly considered placing Eddie onto a bypass machine however didn’t want to risk the further blood loss that it could cause.

Once Eddie was stable, Buck restarted the procedure, removing the ruptured organ, resetting the broken ribs and checking the thoracic cavity for any lung damage which was fortunately absent. Five hours after running into the theatre Buck made his final stitch before sending Eddie’s limp and bruised form off to the ICU, desperately hoping his friend would wake up.

** Back in the ER waiting room: **

A nurse walked up to the group of firefighters and said “Diaz family?”

”Yes”, Bobby replied

”Well I’ve got good news, Mr Diaz is out of surgery and in the intensive care unit”

”Any complications?” Asked Chim

”Yes, he almost flatlined in the first six minutes and a crash team had to be called so I think he’s given Dr Buckley a couple of premature grey hairs but other than that, the procedure went to plan. Dr Buckley will be out soon to take you through everything, however, he’s just finishing up the theatre notes - it takes a little longer to complete them when a crash team has to be called”.

”OK, thank you”

”Oh, speak of the devil, here he is. Dr Buckley, this is Eddie Diaz’s family here”

”Thanks David”

”No problem sir”

”Right, well firstly I have to say that whoever thought that illegal and unregulated bare knuckle fighting is a good idea for a firefighter with a kid should really feel ashamed of themselves. Mr Diaz was incredibly lucky, both to survive and to survive with so few critical injuries, however, it was still touch and go for quite a while there. As I’m sure the nurse told you, I was forced to call for blood and a crash team in the first few minutes of surgery as we couldn’t get the internal bleeding under control. Overall he’s lost several litres of blood as we just had to keep giving him transfusions until I removed the spleen, there were that many ruptures. Other than that he is very lucky, as presumed, he has three broken ribs, a broken arm and several broken bones in one hand but they’ll heal with time, he is however, in an induced coma as a result of the crash team intervention. I’m afraid none of you can see him yet, as I want his bedside totally clear should an emergency crash team need called again. Right there’s my duty fulfilled as a doctor, now for my duty as someone who’s genuinely concerned. He needs help. This fighting, by the looks of his injuries, is a relatively common occurrence for him, to the extent at which he has two teeth missing and one poorly set broken rib which would suggest he is going onto the job when less than physically able. Bobby, I...”

”I prefer captain Nash unless I’m with friends”

Buck just replied emotionlessly, saying ”Well then I likewise prefer Dr Buckley when I’m in such hostile company. As I was saying Captain, you need to refer him to the LAFD therapist and I would recommend at least six weeks before a return to full duty, to avoid further re-injury. Anyway, as I’m sure you understand, my shift ended three hours ago, so I’m rather eager to get back home, and I suggest you do the same as he won’t be waking up until tomorrow morning at the earliest”.

Bobby is then up after Buck’s retreating frame, shouting at him “Is that all we mean to you, you aren’t even going to try to rebuild bridges?”

”Well captain Nash, I wasn’t under the impression that you wanted any bridges rebuilt and I am most definitely sure that I don’t actually know any one of you. Goodnight”. 

** The Next morning, Athena’s police precinct: **

“Athena, come in. I’m sure you understand the graveness of our present situation so I’m not going to reiterate what I said on the phone yesterday. What I am going to say, is that the La County hospital’s legal team are pressing charges, so our lawyers are now trying to get that quashed, however, we’ve had no luck yet. Apparently part of the problem was that you never asked for his medical ID or did a background check before accusing him of a crime and subsequently making an arrest. I understand that Dr Buckley left the 118 under somewhat of a cloud, did that have anything to do with your decision? Look Athena, you’re a good officer and I don’t want you to have to leave the force, however, if these charges stick, I won’t have a choice so, I’ve arranged for you to meet with Dr Buckley and talk the situation over with him, I have to warn you against any public apologies, however, as that would be accepting guilt which we are trying to avoid doing, ok”.

”Ok”, Athena’s mouth felt dry 

Two minutes later Buck walked into the office, before shaking Athena’s hand and sitting down. They talk over the events of the day, before Buck finally gets to the topic of criminal charges:

”Athena, I’m not going to press personal charges, ok, and I’m going to do my best to convince the hospital to do the same, for everything other than the manslaughter charge”

”Buck, why?”

”I don’t want Harry and May growing up with the shadow of that, and all the charges, other than the manslaughter charge, relate to me so I’m dropping them. As for the manslaughter charge, well I don’t think it’s mine to drop. That charge relates to the patient’s family so they have to decide”

”Thank you”

”I am disappointed though, you didn’t trust a single thing I said and that poor man paid the consequences for it so for that I think you do need to do some soul searching” *beep, beep, beep, beep* “I’m sorry, but that’s my pager, I’ll have to go. You’ll be happy to know that Eddie Diaz has just woken up”

”oh thank God!”

The captain then said “Athena, before Dr Buckley leaves, I need to tell you that you’re going to be suspended indefinitely until this matter is cleared up, please surrender your badge and gun on the way out”.

** Back at the hospital: **

“Ugh, where am I, shit I’m going to be late for work, I’m going to be late for work!”

”Painkillers driving him a bit loopy then?”

”Yes doc, I think they are.”

“Always a sign that they’re on the good stuff I suppose” Buck laughs with the ICU nurse, before walking in to check on Eddie 

“Eddie, you’re in the ICU at the county hospital. You were brought in to us last night after getting involved in a street fight, you had us very worried.

”Why’re you talking all like a doctor Buck?”

”Because I am your doctor Eddie”

”huh, going up in the world, my boyfriend a doctor, teehee”

”Eddie, I’m not your boyfriend, we broke up almost a year ago after the tsunami”

”No we didn’t!” Then Bobby walked into the room, “Cap, I think something’s up with Buck, he’s forgotten that I’m his boyfriend, you tell him won’t you”

”Eddie, Buck isn’t your boyfriend. We don’t like him anymore after he lost Christopher in the tsunami and...”

”Christopher’s missing? CHRISTOPHER, CHRISTOPHER, NOOOOOO!” Eddie starts taking a panic attack and screaming, leading to Buck eventually administering a sedative and turning to Bobby.

”Even for you that’s a low blow. You know how fragile he is at the minute but you saw an opportunity to get at me and you took it. Security! Can I have this man removed please and barred from future entry until my patient is more lucid. I think he’s having a detrimental impact on Mr Diaz’s well-being.”

”Sure doc”

”Thanks Reg”

Chim and Hen are the next two visitors Eddie receives and they are surprised when Buck meets them at the door.

”I’m sorry guys, we had to sedate him. Captain Nash got him very worked up and worried about Christopher so I was anxious about his blood pressure if the panic attack continued. He should come round in a few hours and I’ve barred the Captain from future visits until Mr Diaz can make the choice for himself.”

Hen is the first to speak “Buck, I know we were horrible friends to you, and for that we’re truly sorry but we’ve changed. Honestly and we just wanted to thank you for saving his life and apologise on behalf of the 118 for how you were treated”

”Thanks Hen, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that a lot more people are anxious to befriend Dr Buckley than were friends with firefighter Buckley. It’s easy to presume someone’s intelligent when they have a title and letters after their name but you have to look for that intelligence if they don’t. So I maybe would have taken you a bit more seriously if you contacted me throughout the nine months where you didn’t know I was a doctor, rather than saying it on the day you discovered I was”.

As Hen and Chim leave the hospital Chim just says 

“I guess we really were awful friends”

”We really were, weren’t we”...

TBC


	5. How long are you going to let this go on for?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the Station, Hen and Chim do more soul searching. Bobby and Athena have a massive row and Eddie has a frank conversation about Buck - putting some of his past comments into context.

“We were all horrible to him and to be honest I can totally see why he left” 

“Yeah Hen, me too. Should we try to reach out and prove we’ve learnt our lesson?”

”He made it quite clear that he doesn’t trust us any more. And to be fair, we could’ve reached out sooner.”

Bobby chose that exact moment to appear in the loft “What are you guys talking about?”

”Buck”

”Do you think he’d respond well if we tried to reach out?”

”The only reaching out I’ll be doing will be to punch that superior look of his face. Athena got suspended yesterday and then he used his power to kick me out of the hospital”.

Hen, once Buck’s loyal friend, immediately says “Bobby, we both know that Athena got herself suspended, Buck was only doing his job. And, as for the hospital, Eddie had to be sedated you got him into such a state. Even when he came round, the first name on his lips was Christopher and one look at the heart rate monitor told me all I needed to know about how stressed he was.”

”Yeah, side with the clever doctor now, wouldn’t do if the lowly fire captain was right, would it”

”But Bobby, you’re not right. You were wrong about Buck - we all were and now we need to decide on how to move forwards”.

”We move forwards by cutting ties with those who drag us down.”

Chim then interrupted in a whisper “That’s what he did to us, and we deserved it. He doesn’t”.

** LA County and USC Hospital ICU: **

“Buck, Buck!”

”Yes Eddie”. Buck knew he should be annoyed at Eddie, however, he still felt that same gut wrenching feeling as when they first met. He had been so gone for that man and if he’s honest with himself, he still is.

“Buck, can I have your new phone number, please” Eddie sobbed. “I didn’t realise what I had until I lost you, and even if I can never have you back in that way, I haven’t been coping without you”.

”Eddie, I’m not really sure that’s a good idea for either of us” Buck replied stoically.

”Buck, Lena got me involved in fucking street fighting as a way to combat my anger, meanwhile you would have just talked over the problem with me, how much more plain can I make it. I’m growing apart from the 118 and I need reliable friends more than ever”.

”Eddie, even if I wanted to, I’m not allowed to do that sort of thing with patients, you know, you’d have to bump into me, say at the diner down the road that I frequent after shift and meet me in a non professional setting if you wanted it.”

”Buck, just leave your phone unlocked by my bedside or something, and I’ll do the rest. 

“I don’t know Eddie, I don’t want the 118 getting their hands on it and I can tell that Bobby is just waiting for me to make a mistake or be unprofessional so he can sue.”

”It will never get to the 118, I swear and anyway, I know you don’t want anything romantic, but I just need a friend.”

”Ok” Buck said, exaggerating checking his phone and then setting it down on the locker to recheck Eddie’s chart. He didn’t look up until he heard the soft ding coming from Eddie’s phone, signalling that he’d sent himself a message.

”Thank you, I’m really sorry. When I get out of here, can we meet up for a coffee?”

”Well, how about you tell the 118 you don’t feel up to visitors tonight and I’ll come round when I’m off shift. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I can forgive you, but I need the closure too”.

”Ok Buck. I really do want to explain some things. The 118 isn’t the same since you left.”

”I’ll see you then, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a knee to replace.”

”I know I’m not meant to say this, but doctor Buck is kinda sexy.”

”You’re not meant to say it but thanks” Buck laughs as he leaves the room. Infuriated with himself that he can’t bring himself to be infuriated with Eddie.   
  


** Later that afternoon - Bobby and Athena’s house: **

“Athena, baby, I’m home - where are you”

”Kitchen” came the curt reply.

”Honey, wild you be offended if I asked what on earth you are doing?”

”Yes I would be. I’m baking, trying to take my mind off the suspension - at least I’m getting half pay I suppose, it’s about half more than I deserve.”

”Athena, none of this is your fault. This is on Buck, you didn’t pronounce the man dead, did you?”

“Bobby, you do realise how stupid you sound. Just accept that it is my fault - I have”

”No, I refuse to. Buck betrayed us all. He stood by, whilst people died in the backs of ambulances and did nothing when he could have helped them. Yet he’s fully ready to run back to the operating theatre when he decides he’s sick of playing firefighter!”

”Would any of you have believed him if he had tried to help, or would you have done what I did?”

”Thats not the point Thena!”

”Tell me everything that happened leading up to his resignation. EVERYTHING!”

”There was nothing really, I guess he just threw a tantrum when he realised that he annoyed all his friends and decided to leave”.

”I said tell me everything, not the varnished version that lets you sleep at night!”

So Bobby told her everything, all about the comments which he defended as the truth, all about the gossiping which he said went on with everyone and all about the fact that no one had gone to see her boy when he was injured. Bobby finally told her that he didn’t want to let Buck back to work “He didn’t know what was good for him, he was just a young adrenaline junkie who was going to get himself killed - and I wasn’t going to be blamed for that!”

”How could you. You totally lied to me and made him seem like a horrible person, when in fact the only horrible people have been my friends and husband and now because of those lies, I’m going to be out of a job! You’re sleeping in the guest room tonight.”

”Athena,....”

”Shut up unless you want the timeframe shifted to indefinitely”

** That night at the hospital: **

“Dr Buckley, I dint realise you were on duty tonight.”

“Oh, I’m not, just here to visit a friend”

”Ahh, okay. Still up for drinks at the weekend?”

”I’m definitely going, although I might be on water if Dr Peterson’s still off and I have to cover his on call duty.”

*Knock, Knock*

”Buck, you came. I honestly didn’t think you would.”

”Yeah, sorry. Got held up in the OR”

”Look Buck, I don’t like the way the 118 treated you. It’s no excuse, I know, because I went along with it. But nevertheless, I do not like the way they got on. I’m also sorry for the things I said that contributed to that, I shouldn’t have been so horrible about the tsunami and I most definitely shouldn’t have blamed you for any of it. I’ve been speaking to Frank a lot, and he said it was just a self destructive coping measure and that I should have done this a long time ago.”

“I understand that, Eddie, but you didn’t just go along with the team’s taunts, you joined in, frequently”.

”I know Buck, but it’s because I was scared of them turning on me - I still am if I’m honest, you used to be the weakest link and now I am. I’m genuinely considering putting in for a transfer and have been for quite some time, only you know the way Cap treated you when you left and I don’t know if I could take it like you did.”

”Eddie, don’t try to pass the blame off yourself, I heard from people at the crash that you were joining in with the team, taunting me when I wasn’t even there. If you’re doing that behind my back then I can’t trust you.”

”I wasn’t taunting you, when they act like that I leave my replies nondescript. I said ‘I know who’s more likely to save my ass’, and they thought I was talking about Lena, but it was actually you I was thinking of.”

”Thats easy to say Eddie”

”It’s the truth, so it should be easy to say.”

“Look, I’m willing to give you a second chance, but if you want us to go back to being anywhere near as close as we once were, you’re going to have to prove to me that you are different to them - through your actions, not words.”

”I can do that, I’ll prove to you that what you saw after the tsunami wasn’t me, I’ll prove it if it’s the last thing I do.”

Just as Buck was about to reply, Hen and Chim appeared at the doors to the ICU, “looks like you’ve got visitors anyway. I’ll leave you to it Eds”.

”Ive missed that.”

”Missed what?”

”You calling me Eds. No one else says it the way you did, I miss you Buck.”

”I miss the Eddie I fell in love with too. I’ll leave you to your visitors.”


	6. I don’t deserve this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena finds out her future with the LAPD. Buck discovers he has a very repentant and not so secret, secret admirer. Hen and Chim take on Bobby and Eddie gets discharged from the hospital.

**Athena’s police precinct, meeting room.**

Athena walked into the room, recognising the department lawyer, her captain and the police chief waiting for her.

”Athena, how have you been holding up?”

”Not too good, if I’m being honest. I’ve been very scared about what I’m going to hear today”

“Well, sergeant Grant. You’ve been very lucky - there are no criminal charges. Dr Buckley got the hospital to drop everything other than the manslaughter charge and the manslaughter charge was dependant upon the wrongful arrest charge to succeed in court. So you’re no going to go to jail”.

”And my job?”

“We’ve not decided yet Athena” her captain started.

”Dr Buckley is refusing to withdraw his compliant, so we will have to deal with this internally and if we find against you, we could find ourselves having another conversation about criminal charges in the not so distant future. But, in the meantime, you still have a job which is good”

Finally, the Chief said “Sergeant Grant, until the course of our disciplinary inquiry is complete, you will remain suspended from duty and on half pay. The inquiry shouldn’t last more than a week, given the prosecutors dropped their charges”.

** Two weeks later: **

“Athena, we have good news, we found in your favour. Dr Buckley didn’t produce his medical ID for you, before running over to the patient, which gave you grounds to arrest and detain him. It’s a pretty weak defence, so we’re glad it’s not going to court, but you can go back to your job as of tomorrow”

”Thank you Captain, but I don’t know if I’m satisfied with that.”

”What?”

”I didn’t really give him a chance to, I guess I still feel bad about what happened.”

“And you will, for some time. But in the police Athena, we protect our own.”

”Thanks Cap, see you tomorrow”

”Bye Athena, we’ve all missed you”

** Same time at Station 118: **

“Hen, we can’t just barge into his ER and apologise to him the next time we have patients. We need to invite him to see us!”

”But you know he won’t come because he doesn’t trust us”

”We could invite him down for dinner at the station one day?”

”I don’t trust Cap not to say something”

”Don’t trust me not to say something to whom?” The pair hadn’t heard Bobby walk into the loft and were started when they saw him.

”I don’t trust you not to insult Buck if he comes to the station for lunch one day”

”Well Hen, you don’t need to worry about that, because I will just refuse to let him in”

”That’s the exact thing we don’t want you doing!”

”Chim, I will never let that man darken the door of my station again, never!”

“He saved Eddie Cap, it’s the least we do”

”Je was doing his job!”

”People still thank us for doing ours”

”True, but we actually risk ourselves to save others. He just stands cutting bits out of them.”

”Bobby, you know we are all parts of the same machine”

”Well he’s the unnecessary and expensive add on then!”

”Bobby...”

”No Hen, I took him in as if he was my own son and when he decided we weren’t good enough, he didn’t even hand his resignation to me. You have no idea how close to losing my sobriety I was that night!”

“Probably just as close as the night he went round to your place with me and we physically stopped you from overdosing!”

”I treated him like a son and this is what he did!”

“Bobby, you treated him like he was younger than Harry and you wonder why he left”

”Hen, I’m saying this once and once only. If he is ever in my station, I will call the police to remove him for trespassing. Do not invite him here!”

Chim just mumbled “He didn’t deserve this”

** LA County hospital: **

Buck was walking out of the OR after a draining surgery. A major car accident, the paramedics had said - two cars collided head on and his patient was the only one to survive long enough to reach the hospital. Their legs had been so badly crushed that he was pretty sure some of the bone had been turned to powder, so he had been left with no choice other than to amputate as a tourniquet around them had already turned them black. Those sorts of procedures always drained him, because they presented the classic ‘what if’ scenario. Where Buck was forced to wonder how his life would have been different had he himself lost his leg during the bombing. He walked back to his office, intending on just shutting the world out for five minutes when he saw them. Somebody and left a coffee and a bar of his favourite chocolate on his desk, accompanied by a note in a very familiar scrawl telling him that they had heard about the surgery and wanted him to know that he did good, regardless of the outcome. Buck felt touched, he’d always kept a supply of Eddie’s favourite snacks to cheer him up after a tough shift, and he had always been disappointed that the gesture was never reciprocated. Until today. He’d been binge watching Homeland the night before (because let’s face it, Buck definitely was a spy in another life) and had just reached the point where Tom Walker’s Achilles heel and been discovered - his family. All Buck could think was that Eddie was his Achilles heel and he hated himself for the love he felt towards the other man, but he could feel himself slowly forgiving everything. Eddie had occasionally backed him up against the rest of the team, he had never insulted Buck’s intelligence - although he had never complimented or defended it either, out of everyone at the 118 Eddie had been the best to him, and although this was a low bar, maybe he deserved a second chance in a way the others did not. Buck didn’t know and he hated the 118 for coming back into his life and turning everything on its head.   
  


*knock, knock*

“Dr Buckley?!”

”Yeah, come in”

”Dr Buckley, they need you on the ward, Eddie Diaz has fallen during PT and broken another rib!”

“Why didn’t they page me! I’m going now”

“They did, your battery must have died”

”Cheap pieces of crap”

”Agreed”

”Where is he!”

”Here!”

“Right, Eddie. I need you to tell me exactly where it hurts. Because after the mess you were when you came in, if it’s near to your lungs, I’ll be very worried”.

”Its right here” he motioned with his free hand to the area where Buck had operated a few weeks earlier.

“Right, I want x-rays of the area and a theatre on standby”

”sure thing Evan”

** Visiting time that night: **

“Hey, guys, if you’re here to see Eddie, I’ve had him moved over to the acute care ward. He fell during physical therapy earlier today and broke a rib. Be warned, he’s in a foul mood because he’ll be with us for another week at least now

“I do not pity you having to look after him Buckaroo”

”He’s been ok. It’s been surprising how much he’s wanted back to the 118 though”.

”Bobby wants to know if he can come to see him”

”He can and he’s been allowed back for the last 10 days or so, he just never turned up. Still it’s good to see you forming a family around Eddie. It can be tough to be injured and put out of a job you love”.

“Buck...” Hen said, moving in for a hug. 

”No, honestly Hen, it’s fine. If you don’t mind, my shift ended half an hour sago and I just hung around to tell you he’s okay. But now the surgical department’s going out for drinks and I don’t want to be late. See you guys.” He waved politely as he left before the paramedics turned to each other.

“Did we hurt him that bad, or is he just enjoying this now?”

”I’m beginning to think the latter, we don’t deserve to be his punching bag still. We’ve apologised so many times at this point.”

** Bobby and Athena’s house: **

“Hey, baby, how did the hearing go?”

“I still have a job, just about. I got saved by a minute technicality that they said wouldn’t stand up in court, but because Buck got all the charges dropped, it would satisfy the incident report and nullify his complaint to the station”.

”So are they going to take action against him?”

”No, he didn’t do anything wrong. The technicality was that he showed his medical ID to the wrong person effectively.”

“Well at least you have your job back, Thena.”

”I know but I don’t deserve it!”

“You are a damned good police officer and we all know it, even Buck said it before he left.”

”How have things at the station been after Buck? I’ve never really got an answer from you.”

”Strange. I feel like a part of me is missing, he’s pretty much all Hen and Chim talk about and Eddie just mopes about blaming himself. Honestly he’s kinda getting on my nerves at this point.”

”It seems a far cry from what things used to be like. You were all happier back then, him included. Every time he’s seen me over the past few weeks he’s looked like he’s about to be sick. It’s not good for any of you to let this go on anymore”.

”Well I’ll drop it as soon as he actually tries to rebuild bridges.”

”Bobby, you won’t even let the kid call you by your first name!”

”Why should I!”

”The night he left, he drove me so close to a relapse. If there had been alcohol in this house you would have found me drunk out of my mind the next morning.” Bobby sobbed, “now tell me why I deserved that!”

** 1 Week later, LA County Hospital: **

*Knock, knock*

”Eddie. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure Buck”

“I just wanted to give you your discharge papers and offer you a lift if you need one, cause you really shouldn’t be driving and I don’t like the idea of you getting a taxi”.

”Thanks, but I don’t think I pull myself up into the Jeep”

”Well, don’t worry I’ve got rid of it. It reminded me of being at the 118 and I just couldn’t take it. Also I didn’t want any of you to see it in the car park when you brought the ambulance in and put two and two together.”

”Ok then, thanks Buck. You really should hate me, and I know I don’t deserve this second chance but I’m thankful that I’m getting it.”

”I want to hate you Eddie, but I can’t. In the weeks you’ve been in here, you’ve returned to being the man I loved and, I want to love that man again”

”Why don’t you?”

”I’m scared that when you go back to the 118 you’ll return to the way you were before and I don’t know if I could take the rejection this time”

”Buck, I will leave the 118 if that’s what it takes for you to trust me again. I will hand Bobby my resignation tomorrow morning if that’s what it’ll take”

”Don’t go doing anything rash, you need your job and if you rejoin the army, I’ll kill you. But even the fact that you’d suggest doing that, it means a lot. Now anyway - I think you’ve got a very worried kid who’ll want to see you”

”Oh, I’ve missed him”

”I’m sure you have. And one other thing - stop the street fighting. Please, I don’t know if I could take you being wheeled in looking like that ever again”

”Honestly, it wasn’t helping anyway. And recent events have scared the shit out of me. So I don’t think I’ll ever be doing it again.”

They walked out of the hospital together and turned towards the staff locker room for Buck to pick up his things. Then walking out to the car.

”You’re joking! Is this actually your fucking car” Eddie asked in amazement.

”Yeah, I’ve always wanted one and I suppose you can call it my second early life crisis”

”It’s a beauty, how did you afford it? If you don’t mind me asking”

”I got a generous payout from the department after the bombing and my salary has skyrocketed since working here so I thought why not?”

”I always thought you’d go for a DB11?”

”I took one for a test drive, but I value the integrity of my spine too much to go full James Bond. The suspension in this one’s a bit softer”.

”Well, am I allowed to say I’m proud of my friend for how well he managed to pick himself up and carry on when everyone around him treated him like shit? Even if he shouldn’t have had to”

”Thanks Eddie, still the same address”

”Yeah Buck”

”By the way. I’ve moved and if we are going to make a go of working this out, I thought you should have my new address. I’ll text it to you when I get home. But please do not share it with Bobby, he really hates me now after I kicked him out of the hospital”

”Thanks for dealing with that so calmly. When I mistook you for my boyfriend, it couldn’t have been easy for you.”

”We’re here, do you want help in?”

“I’m OK, it might be strange for Chris, in the short term. I don’t want to expose him to any of this unless I’m sure I know where we stand”

”Ok, Eds. And PHONE ME IF IT HURTS!” Buck shouted as Eddie got out of the car, before backing down the drive, feeling more complete than he had in a long time. ‘I didn’t deserve them the first time around’ he thought.

TBC


End file.
